All eyes may be on Ridley Scott’s Alien prequel Prometheus as its June release date rapidly approaches, but Scott is already gearing up for a return to another of his former sci-fi glories, the 1982 cult classic Blade Runner, and Deadline are reporting that screenwriter Hampton Fancher – who was responsible for co-writing the first film alongside David Peoples (Unforgiven, Twelve Monkeys) – is currently in negotiations to pen the screenplay.

Production company Alcon Entertainment are now acknowledging that the new Blade Runner movie will be a sequel that takes place “some years after the first film concluded”, and Scott has spoken briefly about his plans for the movie in an interview with The Daily Beast: “Funny enough, I started my first meetings on the Blade Runner sequel last week. We have a very good take on it. And we’ll definitely be featuring a female protagonist.”

Although the Blade Runner sequel is on the horizon, we may still have a long wait before it reaches the screen. Following the release of Prometheus, Scott will reunite with Michael Fassbender (Shame) as he directs Cormac McCarthy’s (No Country for Old Men) screenplay The Counselor – which is set to star Brad Pitt (Inglourious Basterds), Cameron Diaz (Bad Teacher), Penélope Cruz (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) and Javier Bardem (Skyfall) – while he’s also attached to the biopic Gertrude Bell with Angelina Jolie (The Tourist).